Comics in the 90s part II

More comics from a decade that was not the best for fanboys

I'll admit my last article was a bit on the negative side, so I promise this one will be a lot more positive, and more in depth than just "This sucked" or "This was good".

Any way, on with the article.

So, the 90s is not only a decade that brought comic readers a few new comic companies like Valiant Comics ,

who breathed new life into old comic heroes like Solar, Man of the Atom

and Turok, Dinosaur Hunter

or Image, home to such new heroes as Spawn, created, wirtten, and drawn by Todd Macfarlane,

and Wild C.A.T.S.

it is also the decade that brought me my all time favorite comic book story ever......

Kindgom Come, which was written by a very good writer named Mark Waid, and painted by an outstanding artist named Alex Ross.

A collage of the covers to Kingdom Come. Isn't it beautiful?

This four part mini series was an Elseworld's tale, meaning it happened out of continuity of the canon DC universe. The story is based in the near future of our time. The heroes we know and love have all retired, letting the new heroes take over.

But the big difference between the old and new heroes is that the new heroes act more like villains. They have no regard to the safety of the public. If someone becomes a casualty of a battle, it is no skin off their nose.The actions of the new heroes causes the old heroes to come out of retirement and kick some newbie butt!

This series was a massive success.It honestly is in my opinion the "Citizen Kane" of comic books. Waid really captured the characters well. Ross's paintings were breathtaking. Every panel was a work of art on it's own. Just take a look at a few.

Even if you don't like comic books, I guarantee that you will love this book.

Anyway, on to another notable comic book event of the 90's... the introduction of the Marvel Knights imprint.

This was a line of comics that was meant for mature readers. Some titles that were launched in this imprint were "Black Panther", "the Punisher", "the Inhumans." But the most successful title that came out of the Marvel Knights imprint was "Daredevil"

The initial story arch was drawn by Joe Quesada (who is now the Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics), and written by Kevin Smith.

Yup, THAT Kevin Smtih!

The story arch Smith and Quesada worked on was "Guardian Devil". In this story, Matt Murdock (old horn head's secret identity) gets his Catholic faith tested through a series of events in his life. Daredevil meets up with an old foe, and a long time Daredevil character dies.

Anyways, I don't want to spoil the story, but this was epic. It made Daredevil a popular character once again, and attracted great talent to the book like Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (artist), David Makc (artist) and currently Ed Brubaker (writer) and Michael Lark (artist).

This is my favorite comic book work of Smith. He captured the character of Daredevil and made the character his own. Quesada also stood out on this story arch. His pencils were amazing and leaped off the pages. It really is definitive work for him. Just look at some samples.This cover inspired the opening moment in the 2003 "Daredevil" movie. you'll recognize it once you see it.

After the success of "Guardian Devil", Smith went on to work on such titles as "Green Arrow", reintroducing the character in the story arch "Quiver" with artist Phil Haster....

Smith also worked on the mini series "Spider-Man/ Black Cat", featuring artwork by Terry Dodson.....

and most recently completed the mini series "Batman: Cacophony", with art by Walt Flanagan.

As mentioned before, Quesada went on to become the Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. He pretty much runs the joint today. In 2005, Quesada returned to work on Daredevil once again in the mini series "Daredevil: Father".

Any way, I know I couldn't fit ALL the events that occurred in the 90's, so I want you to post your favorite comic events in the 90s. Hope you enjoyed reading.

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Ok liked the article but one problem....that was not the plot of "Kingdom Come". It was not an elseworld's story actually it was a generation after the DC Universe at the time it was written. There are "NO" Supervillans, Joker killed everyone in the Daily Planet including Superman's wife Lois Lane. When he gets to the court for his trial a new "meta-human" Magog kills The Joker before he can be tried and Magog ends up going to trial for the death of the joker. He is acquitted, Superman not liking the support for someone who would kill a criminal about to stand trial he leaves everyone behind and hides in his Fortress of Solitude.

Because of Superman's status as a "Role Model" to the Meta-Human community the other heroes who did not like Magog's way of justice bowed out too. Without the guidance and the moral compass of Superman and his generation of heroes future meta-humans have no distinction between "Heroes" and "Villains", they fight openly against each other (even if they are friends) and cause a lot of collateral damage. Sorry to ramble but that is the beginning of the "Kingdom Come" mini series, I know I sound like a complete comic nerd but truth be told I am LOL. I have a massive collection and I read at least five a day.

Alex Ross is one of the most overrated 'artists' in the industry. Kingdom Come was not the Citizen Kane of the comics world. Grifter78 is correct, Watchmen holds that title. Followed by Dark Knight Returns. Your article is fine. Just pointing out things that many people won't mention. Ross' art is very flat and dull in the sequential format. He's better off doing posters and covers, rather than interiors. He was an advertising graphic arts major.

I'm sure for Part III there could be other stuff to mention. Just drawing a blank right now. And I'm forgetting what was in Part I. Otherwise, good job.

A big improvement over part 1. Good job. It's interesting that you consider Kingdom Come the "Citizen Kane" of comics. Watchmen holds that title for most people. But I will agree it is on the same level as Watchmen. And I'll agree it is probably the best work to feature the DCU characters. It's a shame Valiant went under like they did. I've been meaning to do a Valiant: Then and Now article (similar to the one I did for Wildstorm Comics) but just haven't had the time. Acclaim went under and Valiant is now owned by different people. They've released 3 hardcover trades for Harbinger, X-O Manowar, and Archer & Armstrong but I'm not sure how well they sold because I haven't heard of anymore yet. I hope they do more though, those collections were beautiful!If you're up to doing a Part III to your article, it'd be interesting to see how things drastically changed for comics from the 90's boom to Marvel's bankrupcy in '96 and then an upturn in the industry at the end of the 90's.

I love your article but I hate Kevin Smith. Don't take this the wrong way, your article is great until the Kevin Smith part of it. I don't think that there is anyone in Hollywood who is more overrated than he is. Well there's a few I can name...Anyway I like some of the comics you used here, namely the Turok and WildCats issues. I have a few issues of Solar, back when I was younger, I would get him confused with oldschool Cyclops from X-Men. Oh well thumbs up!

Another good article. I wasn't a big fan of Spawn or Valiant but they had there moments. I thought and still think that Kingdom Come is pretty over rated as well but who am I to question its success? Loved Kevin Smith's runs on Daredevil and Green Arrow though. Quiver was a thing of absolute brilliance. Thumbs up.

Ah yes, the Spiderman and Black Cat series. Because of Smith's constant lateness and dragging his butt, it took more than two years didnt it for that four issue series to be released? I got number one, but got tired of waiting for the other issues. If you ever want decent writing but late books past deadline, put Kevin Smith on your book. Honestly, hes better off in movies. Not knocking on Smith, hes one of the best directors out there and a decent talent on comics. Its just that he doesnt need his hands in too many projects. The comics will always suffer.

Kingdom Come deserves all the praise it receives. Even though MARVELS (also with Ross) was the originator of the style, Kingdom just had a more epic feel. Probably because DC's characters are more like Gods, whereas as Marvel's are more everyday heroes. I mention my favorite Valiant title, X-O Manowar in an upcoming comics related article.

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